Gas turbine engines typically include a compressor, a combustor, and a turbine. The compressor compresses air drawn into the engine and delivers high pressure air to the combustor. In the combustor, fuel is mixed with the high pressure air and the air/fuel mixture is ignited. Products of the combustion reaction in the combustor are directed into the turbine where work is extracted to drive various components of the gas turbine engine.
Turbines typically include alternating stages of static vane assemblies and rotatable wheel assemblies. The rotatable wheel assemblies include disks carrying blades that are coupled to the disks. When the rotatable wheel assemblies turn in response to receiving the combustion reaction products, tips of the blades move along ceramic blade tracks included in static turbine shrouds surrounding the rotating wheel assemblies. Consequently, work is extracted in the form of mechanical energy.
Clearance between the tips of the blades and the static turbine shrouds affects gas turbine engine operating efficiency. Optimizing the clearance between the tips of the blades and the static shrouds to maximize gas turbine engine operating efficiency, however, can present challenges. For example, to determine the clearance between the blade tips and the static shrouds, disassembly of the gas turbine engine is often required to inspect those components, thereby resulting in increased downtime during the repair and/or testing of gas turbine engines.